Amazon's India chief takes stand against work email after 6pm
While the demands of technology on workers has become a topic of debate around the world, work-life balance is severely off kilter in Bangalore, India’s third-largest city, where a significant portion of the one million workers employed in the outsourcing business cater to global customers and often work late into the night
The head of Amazon.com Inc.’s India business has a radical idea for his troops: Log off, get a life.
In an memo to his team this month, Amit Agarwal counselled colleagues to stop responding to emails or work calls between 6pm and 8am in the interest of “work-life harmony”. He also talked about the importance of work discipline and how to draw the line.
The leaked note has broken through the sleep-deprived haze in the technology hub of Bangalore to set off heated discussions on social networks and WhatsApp chat groups. Agarwal is a senior vice-president at the Seattle-based retail behemoth, which has a reputation of fostering a cutthroat work culture and driving employees to burnout. Many in India wondered if this represented a softer turn for the company. Agarwal has previously served as an executive assistant to Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, who is often painted as a demanding boss. An Amazon representative in India declined to comment on the email.
India, with its more than 1.3 billion people, has become a fierce battleground for Amazon.com Inc., and the company has committed some $5.5 billion to building up its network there. Recently Amazon lost out to Walmart Inc. in a bid to buy Flipkart Online Services Pvt., India’s leading e-commerce operator.
While the demands of technology on workers has become a topic of debate around the world, work-life balance is severely off kilter in Bangalore, India’s third-largest city, where a significant portion of the one million workers employed in the outsourcing business cater to global customers and often work late into the night. It’s even more lopsided in the up-and-coming start-up industry, where late-night meetings and weekend calls are the norm.
Psychologists, sleep laboratories and fertility clinics have raised concerns about the mental and physical toll wrought by the frenetic work schedule. Insomnia, depression and suicidal tendencies are rampant symptoms, said Dr. S. Kalyanasundaram, a well-known psychiatrist who sees many technology workers in his thriving south Bangalore practice. “These days I see many 25- and 28-year-olds suffering heart attacks, something I haven’t seen in my four decades in this field,” he said.
